Bluechild of Huceo Mundo
by Ikaru Sentinal
Summary: Aoiko Jaquerjaquez has a problem. Grimmjow has just taken Orihime to heal Ichigo, and Aizen-dono is not pleased. He punishes her for Grimmjow's error, and he decides enough is enough. They defect from Aizen's side and they join the other side. Ichigo?
1. Prologue

AN/ A Bleach fanfic I've been working on. Actually have 2 other completed chapters done, and have started the third. Will update them...probably a week apart considering my update rate...this way I'll have the third done by then, and not take months to update like I usually do. Hope this whets your appitites!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, all that belongs to Kubo Tite. I only own Aoiko. I hope you enjoy reading her as much as I've enjoyed writing her!

Note: My character is Aoiko Jaegerjaquez, little sister to Grimmjow. If that bothers anyone, please do not read any further. If you do and I get flames...I'll laugh because I warned you. And on further note, she is not, to the best of my abilities, a mary-sue. Now, read and enjoy! 3

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><p>The slim young female Arrancar peeked around the corner cautiously, her chin length dark teal hair swinging forward and partially obscuring her pale electric-blue eyes which were darting back and forth as she scanned the empty and dimly lit hallway. She was worrying her bottom lip nervously, her slightly larger then normal canines causing small beads of blood to form which she ignored. She had her reiatsu clamped down so tightly that she was quivering slightly from the strain, but she had no desire to be caught. Especially not by Aizen-dono.<p>

She had had a bad feeling about Sosuke Aizen since the very beginning, but now more then ever she was more and more frightened of him. He terrified her. He claimed to be their 'god', and had in fact changed her from a mere Adjuchas into an Arrancar. But, although he was admittedly powerful enough to in fact be a god, they way he stared at them with his flat, cold and speculative eyes, that condescending smile… the smooth, oh so kindly way he spoke to her; it terrified her. And he knew. And he knew she knew he knew. And it amused him. Not to mention his two generals, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen. Ichimaru-sama seemed…jovial enough, and she had spoken to him on occasion, but he was manipulative and…cold. Whenever he spoke she felt as if she were being strangled by snakes. And Tosen-sama was worse. He claimed to be 'pure-being', he longed for the path of least blood-shed. But from what little she knew of his history and Aizen-dono's plans (albeit not very much on either subject) she had come to the conclusion that he was delusional and a hypocrite. And he was dangerous for that very reason. She had seen what he had done to her brother's arm. She had been in that very room when he had brought Grimmjow back for his sentencing. And even after Aizen-sama had stated he was not mad –even if he was lying, he had still said those exact words- Tosen-sama had still taken it upon himself to punish Grimmjow, spouting about his 'justice' as he did so. She had been furious. She had very much yearned to kill him in that moment, but had restrained herself. Barely. Only knowing he would have killed her as easily as swating an errant fly had held her hand. She needed to stay alive to be of use to her brother.

She hated Tosen-sama more then Ichimaru-sama and Aizen-sama combined. Because he hid behind a shield of righteousness that pissed her off. Of course Aizen-sama and Ichimaru-sama were more capable of atrocities then the blind Shinigami; but they did not dress them up in fancy moralities to make them seem like pure ideals. Nor did they ignore inconvenient truths. But for all that she was not afraid of Tosen-sama. Not like how afraid of Aizen-dono and Ichimaru-sama she was.

But more then any of that, she was frightened for her brother Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. She believed he had just done something monumentally idiotic (which he admittedly had a annoying tendency to do) and she was following him. Her brother had just absconded with the human prisoner –Orihime Inoue, whom Aizen-dono had big plans for- and disappeared with her. She wasn't afraid that he would hurt the girl whom she had developed a fondness for in these last few days, but she did worry for _his_ safety if Aizen-dono discovered what her had done. Aizen-sama would not be happy in the least, she knew that for certain. And Aizen-dono might even kill him for this –going unauthorized into the human realm with one's Fracción to kill a man who might one day become a threat was one thing, taking the Master's toy/prisoner/pawn without permission was quite a different matter entirely- breech of obedience. She had to stop him before Aizen-dono found out.

There was nothing in the hallway before her. She slipped around the corner and sprinted down the hall on near silent bare feet before pausing once more at the next corner, and running smack into the chest of none other then Gin Ichimaru himself as he rounded said corner. She hadn't felt him coming. At all. She bit back a startled gasp and craned her head back to stare…into blood red eyes. She nearly fainted from fright as the fox-visaged man smirked down at her, his eyes showing his delight at her fear. She stepped back a pace before being pulled back to the taller man's chest by a brutal hand curled around the back of her neck.

"Now, it is nice to see you there, Aiko-chan!" He greeted her in a scarily cheery manner, using the hated nickname he'd decided to label her with.

"Ah, is…that so, Ichimaru-sama?" She asked, her voice trembling only slightly. She wondered what he wanted. She got her answer right away.

"Well, you see, Aiko-chan, your brother's gone off with Orihime-chan without even bothering to inform Aizen-sama of such a thing. Now, Aizen-sama is not pleased with such behavior, really, such a simple thing he asks of his followers, isn't it? Just to obey him in all things, but Grimmjow seems deficient…..Aizen-sama has decided he needs to be punished." Gin explained to her happily, his eyes squinted shut again and he pulled her forcibly along with him as he walked back down the way he had been coming when she ran into him.

"He, does? How…what….kind of punishment?" She asked in a small voice, cold sweat forming on her forehead and the small of her back. She felt very cold all of a sudden.

"Oh well, you need to ask Aizen-sama about that, Ai. He wanted very much to see you when it was discovered that he and Orihime-chan were missing. Very much." The silver hair man told her gleefully and she felt as if her body was being crushed by serpents and her eyes were wide with fear as he led her into Aizen-dono's throne room.

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><p>And that is the end of the prologue, I hope you have all ejoyed it! Next chapter will be up soon, and I mean that by not my usual standard of soon. XD A week at the latest. Probably this weekend.<p> 


	2. Grimmjow's revelation

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, that is the property of Tubo Kite. I only own this plot and my character Aoiko.

AN/ so sorry! I said this weekend, And I missed a bit. My dad was wiping my computer of Vista and installing Windows 7, and that took the weekend. And I was too busy monday and yesterday. But now you get this lovely chapter which sets up the story. I hope you all enjoy it. I am copying the text for the first part of this chapter directly from the manga translation I read online. So it seems a little stilted. Starts from chapter 277, page 6.

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><p>"Fix him" He told the orange haired woman in a cold voice.<p>

Grimmjow sat with his arms on his knees as he watched impatiently while Inoue healed Kurosaki. But not fast enough for his liking; he wanted to fight Kurosaki immediately. But not until he was full strength of course. It needed to be a fair fight, both of them full strength, and then he would prove who was the strongest. Himself of course, he'd make that strawberry see that once and for all. But the little brat with a lisp was pissing him off, crying about Kurosaki's condition. "SHUT UP!" He finally yelled, scaring the brat into silence. "…you're so frigging loud, kid!...Yap like that one more time, and I swear I'll blast you apart!"

"…Yes sir…" Was her much subdued response. She looked terrified, and for some reason he felt the need to reassure her.

"Just be quiet and she'll fix him. Be quiet and watch."

"Who…who would do such a thing…" The woman was saying, as if to herself; but he answered anyways.

"It's Ulquiorra." She turned to look at him with wide eyes. "It's what he does. I'm not sure if he even realizes it, but whenever he takes an interest in his prey he always punches a hole in his exact same location. I'll teach him…" Now he slowly stood to his feet.

"I'll teach him what happens, when he messes with someone else's prey!" He vowed, his fist clenched at his side. Then he, Inoue, and the brat were all distracted when Kurosaki groaned, and turned to look at him underneath Inoue's shield.

"Nell…and…Inoue…?" He seemed shocked, but conscious. The girls simultaneously began to greet him, but he put his foot down on such sentimental nonsense.

"Shut the hell up you two! If you have time to talk, then hurry up and fix him!" He demanded impatiently. Kurosaki looked at him before stating the obvious and asking why he was there. Grimmjow was annoyed with all this useless talking.

"Shut yer mouth and get fixed! The only reason I'm here is to settle things with the uninjured you!" He informed his rival, and the woman looked horrified.

"Grimmjow! So that's the reason you're making me fix-…!" he cut her off, getting close to being pissed off.

"Shut up I said! I'm allowing you to fix this guy who was close to being dead! Stop complaining! Just hurry up! It won't take long before Ulquiorra realize what's going on and comes back! Before that I'll-" But he never had a chance to say what he'd do.

Ulquiorra appeared suddenly behind him, his visage cold as usual, with a bloody bundle in his arms. At first he didn't pay any attention to the bundle and was beginning to sneer at the white faced emo when he suddenly realized that he recognized the reiatsu pulsing very faintly from within the bundle. "Aoiko!" He exclaimed, surprised, and very, very angry.

"Ulquiorra, you filthy bastard! What did you do to her?" He seethed as he launched himself into the air with every intention of wresting the pitiful bundle from said bastard's arms by force and then cutting his head off. He was superseded by the white faced 4th Espada's expedience of simply throwing the bundle at him. Grimmjow swore colorfully and caught the bundle as gently as he could and landed back on the ground, glaring hatefully at the Espada above him. He thought he had hated that freak before, but now he realized he had not even known the meaning of that word. Now, he hated. He loathed. That freak had hurt his baby sister, he was gonna die. He Sonido'd to Inoue's side, thrusting the bundle at her with a snarled "Heal her or I'll kill you", before launching himself once more at Ulquiorra, ignoring the stupid woman's gasp of dismay although his heart echoed that very sound.

"It was not I who damaged the girl." Ulquiorra's lowly spoken cold words stopped Grimmjow short.

"Who then?" He snarled.

"Aizen-sama was very upset when you took the woman without his permission. Very upset." Was all that Ulquiorra said. Grimmjow was shocked. Aizen-sama had…? His lips curled back in a snarl. This had probably been intended as a warning of what could happen to him if he were to disobey another time. But the problem was, Aizen-sama had been purposely kept in the dark as much as possible about how deeply he cared for his baby sister. He would not take the intended warning and slink back with his tail between his legs. No. He would not return at all. As of the moment he had learned that Aoiko's pain was caused by his hand, Aizen-sama was now and forevermore his enemy. Even if it meant joining Kurosaki, Grimmjow would kill the Arrancars' 'God'.

"Is that right." He spoke flatly, it was not a question. He stared levelly at the 4th Espada as he lowered back to the ground, ignoring the noise from the woman and Kurosaki behind him. "Why did you bring her here? Did _he_ tell you to bring her here?" He asked slowly, the wheels in his head spinning. Did Aizen-sama…no…Aizen. He no longer was worthy of any respect from him. Did Aizen intend her harm to be a warning?

"Yes, and to tell you-" Ulquiorra started to answer but as soon as the word 'yes' left his white lips Grimmjow was already Sonido-ing towards him, shoving his hand up to his hole, and sealing him within a Caja Negación. He'd break out within a couple hours considering his reiatsu, but it would serve to hold him for now.

After returning once more to the floor of the tower he turned around to face a shocked half-healed Kurosaki –now on his feet albeit a little unsteadily- and Inoue ripping open the wrapped bundle and pulling out a pitiful body. His eyes narrowed into slits and his hands curled into tense fists and he Sonido'd to Inoue's side. Kurosaki saw his movement as a threat and moved his Zanpaktou to defend Inoue. While somewhat impressed with his reaction time he was not in the mood any longer to fight the orange haired teen. He blocked the blade easily and thoughtlessly with his hand and looked down at Inoue and his sister.

"Not now Kurosaki." He snarled; all his attention on his baby-sister's bloody face. "Can you heal her?" He asked Inoue in a slightly less gruff voice then usual.

"Yes." Inoue responded without the slightest hesitation, her face determined despite the tears flowing down her cheeks. Kurosaki looked very confused as Grimmjow knelt to help Inoue pull the rest of the bag off of the smaller girl. "The Caja Negación is used to seal away lesser hollows and Arrancar, but it won't hold Ulquiorra for more then several hours." He explained to which Inoue nodded, most of her attention on Aoiko.

"Oh! Aoi-chan…" She murmered in destress, seeing the extent of the damage. Grimmjow felt his reiatsu spike with his rage when he too saw the damage.

"Aizen will die for this." He vowed in a very angry snarl.

"What-the hell!" Kurosaki started to ask in annoyance and anger as he turned to Grimmjow and Inoue when he suddenly saw the smaller Arrancar girl.

"Aoiko is my baby sister." He managed to grate out between his teeth as his vision begin to swim in a film of murderous red. "…Aizen… punished her for my bringing the woman here without his permission." He explained to Kurosaki, guilt now beginging to eat at him. This was his fault…

Aoiko had always been small, slight of stature, and to him, the most beautiful creature in any of the worlds. She was only 5'0" tall, and she was delicate with a good figure which had him constantly on the watch for any leering Arrancar. She was not as well endowed as Halibel or Inoue, but better endowed then Lilinette, somewhat like those treacherous bitches; Loly and Melony. Other then her femenine traits she looked a lot like him, pale skin, electric-blues eyes including the darker teal markings underneath that his had, teal hair (altough several shades darker then his), sharp teeth, well muscled body. Her hair was a little longer then chin length in the front and closly cropped in the back. Her hollow mask fragment was a spikey plate on the right side of her forehead, part of it trailed down her cheekbone in front of her ear. She even dressed like he did, same style of shirt an all. The only thing protecting her modesty was a leather band around her breasts, with straps that went up to her neck, attached around a tight band around her throat. (AN/ Think Jack from Mass Effect 2)Her hollow hole was centered on her sternum.

Now her mask remnents had been callously ripped off her head, she was missing her left eye, her right arm, and she was cut all over the place. She was mottled all over her body with viscious looking brusies, most of her ribs were broken, and he knew she must be bleeding internally. Her stomach was ripped open, he could see her intestines. But even more distressing was the sight that both her hips were dislocated and broken, and the conentations that injury raised made him feel so ill he almost threw up right then and there. She looked pitiful, and his heart lurched. He had failed her so terribly…he was wretched.

"I should have protected her…I'm her brother…" He almost moaned, his hands at helpless fists by his sides. Even while he had been musing, Inoue had already begun to heal the girl, her eyes determined, her face grim, her entire being focused on the smaller girl. Her poor broken form was partially obscured by the goldenrod barrier that Inoue held over her, but the condition she had been in would forever be seared into his retinas. He felt more then saw Kurosaki come stand by his side, and when he turned to glare at the boy he was shocked by the pain in his brown eyes.

"I have sisters too." Was all he said. And Grimmjow felt then that they were kindred in that if in nothing else. Kurosaki protected his sisters, loved them. As Grimmjow loved his.

"Yours haven't been tortured because of something you've done." He remarked bitterly, knowing it was true. Kurosaki paused, then replied.

"No." But there was no condemnation in his voice. No pity. Just remorse for the state of his rival's little sister. Grimmjow knew that he was thinking of his own sisters then. Thinking of them in this state.

"Gri-…" The chocked sound drew his attention down immedietly to his sister's face. Her eye was open and she was staring up at his general direction. When her eye –cloudy with pain- cleared and she saw him, her bloody lips twitched into a smile, and he knew it must have pained her to do so. "Grimmy…you….you're…alright…" She could hardly raise her voice above a whisper, and her eye was filled with tears of joy. She was not thinking about her own condition in the slightest. This more then anything else drove him nearly to tears. He threw himself down beside her.

"Don't talk. Let the woman heal you." He told her, distress making his voice cold and curt. She didn't seem to mind. Her eye darted towards Inoue, although she could not quite move her head to see the woman properly. She then returned her attention to his face, her face emotionless now. She stared at him for so long that he was worried that she was angry with him. Then she looked at Kurosaki beside him. She seemed to size him up for a moment. Then her attention turned to Inoue.

"Let me up." Even when speaking in a rough whisper, her voice was still calm and demanding. Inoue twitched, her eyes lept up to the girl's face, her eyes wide in a panic. Grimmjow guessed he looked much the same, Kurosaki sure looked startled when he glanced at the carrot-top.

"Hell no!" He growled. "Stay down, brat." He snarled, leaning over Aoiko to stare into her eye. She met his gaze calmly, and he saw that her jaw was locked and chin firm. She was in a stubborn mood, he almost groaned. Damn her. Why was she so difficult?

"Aoi-chan! You can't move!" Inoue exclaimed in a panic before he could even open his mouth to reprimend his sister.

"We…can't…stay here. Aizen-don-"

"Don't say that!" He snarled before she could even finish that hated syllabul. "He does not deserve a single honorific after what he did to you Aoiko! None! We are defecting!" He informed her, his voice white-hot with hate. She looked at him blankly for a moment before continuing as though he had not interrupted her.

"Aizen will know where we are. We…need to leave…" He voice got weaker even as she spoke and her resisted the urge to slap her.

"Not until I heal you." Inoue said, suddenly firm, her eyes hard. Kurosaki and he both looked at her with varying degrees of shock. Aoiko did not appear to hear her, and in fact tried to sit up.

"Aoiko!" He snapped, and she stilled. "Let her heal you enough so that you don' bleed out at least!" He finally added as a negotiation. She stared up at him, and then relaxed against the ground and closed her eye. Already her mask was repaired, she had stopped bleeding so badly and he could no longer see her internal organs. She had both eyes again, and he hoped that vision would be returned as well. But, even through the barrier, she was still so pale, her features so drawn. But gradually she looked better and better, and he felt relief flow through him. She would live. She suddenly opened her eyes-both of them- and looked straight into Inoue's. Inoue stiffened, obviously startled.

"I'm fine. Heal your friend. Then we need to leave." She informed Inoue coldly, her eyes brooking no argument. Inoue drew back, her hands pulling to her chest.

"But-"

"Come Ori-chan. We don't have time…to heal me fully…I am no longer near death. You may do as you wish to me when we are safe." Aoiko's voice was softer now. The barrier faded away, the fairy-things went back to the woman's hair. Grimmjow was already knelt by his sister.

"Stupid brat, let her heal you all the way!" He growled.

"Not enough time. Someone will be coming… he would have sent someone if Ulquiorra did not return with you." She paused. "He may have sent….Nnoitra…Tesla." She sat up and stared into the distance, her face unreadable. He followed her gaze, his eyes dark.

"Was he one that hurt you?" He growled, rough and savage. He didn't mean all the injuries, not one person had done all that, it must have been all the Arrancar, or at least five of them. He was refering to the rape. Aoiko did not answer and he felt hate twist in his gut.

"Ichigo." She demanded. Inoue looked undecided for a moment, looking around at the three of them. Then she nodded, but as she wasn't looking at his sister, Grimmjow thought she must be nodding to herself. She picked up Aoiko (which shocked he and she both) and placed her near Kurosaki and himself.

"If you would please sit…I can heal all three at once." She told them with a determined expression. Aoi was looking up at the woman with wide eyes, he figured he must look much like she. He sat down after a moment, resisting the urge to pull his sister into his arms. After a moment of hesitation more, Kurosaki joined him, on Aoi's other side. Inoue looked very pleased with herself, and then the goldenrod barrier was over the three of them, and although there was some strain in Inoue's face now, she looked content.

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><p>AN I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next is finished, I do not have a word program currently, but I'll try and hand write out another chapter...or something. So the third chapter may take a little time. But the next will be up within a week. So this story will flow more. XD Please read and review!


	3. Nnoitra and Kenpachi Friend or Foe?

AN/ So. I have read the entired series, and have watched up to the end of the third season (which is not even near this point) So I know while I mainly followed points in the begining of the last chapter...this takes a different turn. As in Kenpachi shows up alot sooner, and Yumichika and Ikkaku with him. But the fight with Nnoitra will not change too much. Kenny will still hand him his ass, don't worry.

I do not have a word program currently, so am editing the file I had thankfully updated weeks ago on here...but that means no spell check. I know I have several spelling mistakes, please bear with me. I will repost this chapter when I can get chance to spell check it somehow.

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><p>Ten minutes had passed, and she could feel Nnoitra's reiatsu closing in. The three of them were healed for the most part now. Grimmjow and Ichigo completely, and Aoiko about 23rds. But Orihime was too exhausted to finish, she almost passed out before she could release the barrier. Aoiko caught the orange haired woman as the golden barrier faded and the fairies returned to their sealed form, and held her gently. She was still sore, she felt as if she had gone several bouts against her brother non-stop. Her muscles felt damaged still, but all her bones were knit, her organs healed completely. She could function, she could fight. She looked down at the woman with amazement. She'd healed Ichigo and Grimmjow completely (granted Grimmy had only been a little hurt, and Ichi half healed already, but still) and herself too….what power and will Orihime had!

Grimmjow and Ichigo were on their feet, both looking down at Orihime with varying degrees of admiration in their eyes. Orihime stirred, and opened her hazel eyes, looking bewildered.

"You passed out." Aoiko informed her with a smile. "You pushed yourself over the limit…but you're amazing." She assured the girl when Orihime began to babble in alarm. Ichigo knelt and helped the orangette to her wobbly feet. Grimmy similarly helped her to her own, and she winced when her hips gave a painful twinge. Obviously they needed more healing…but that would have to wait. She found herself staring out across the endless expanse of the desert, turned her head to see Grimmjow staring down at her with a worried expression. She gave him a small reassuring smile although it did not seem to help. She turned from him to walk over to the two orange-haired humans, reaching a hand out for Orihime.

Her back was suddenly splattered with warm blood as Grimmjow was sliced open by a crescent shaped blade attached to a chain…he flew back a hundred feet, she stumbled a half step towards him in shock, her breath caught in her throat.

A bored voice hissed in annoyance. "That was meant for you…"

She whirled, eyes wide in a panic. It was Nnoitra, standing with his oversized scythe-like weapon over his shoulder, his other hand on his hip, his visible eye sneering. She froze, panic stalling the motions of her muscles, making it hard to breath. She felt as if she were incased in ice, frozen and numb.

"Grimmjow!" The sound of both Orihime and Ichigo calling the name of her brother pulled her out of the panicked trance. She snarled at the tall (at least 7 feet tall) almost emaciated man. He was so thin that it appeared as if a stiff breeze could snap him. But he was all whipcord and muscle, and meaner then a Hollow had any right to be. His visible eye was a vivid purple, and his teeth were bared in a perpetual grin that sent shivers down her spine and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She hated him. At the moment, she hated him even more then she hated Kaname. Even more then Aizen.

Her lips curled back and she lunged forward, intending to attack him with her bare hands. Her hips buckled and she stumbled, Ichigo flew past her, attacking savagely with his zanpaktou. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She was shocked by the fury Nnoitra's back-handed attack on her brother had fueled within the boy. Sure they had agreed to be comrades, or at the least, allies. But did that rate such anger on his behalf? Amazing, this boy was so passionate, so passionate she forgot her hate of Nnoitra for a moment. And in that moment as she sat midway between her brother's crumpled form and the bloody battle between Ichigo and Nnoitra, Tesla came and stole Orihime away. She lurched to her feet, her eyes filmed with red. He stood on the other side of Nnoitra and Ichigo from her, his sword to Orihime's slim throat. How dare he. Her breath hissed out between clenched teeth.

But before she could even began to run to Orihime's defense, the sequence of events suddenly replayed in her mind, and her eyes widened. She whirled and ran clumsily to her brother's side. She threw herself down beside him, so aghast she could not even cry. Her brother should have been her first priority; she should not have neglected him for a moment. She checked him over frantically, and eventually came to the conclusion that he was alive, though badly injured. She was so relieved that she began to cry.

"Gri-ri-mmjow…" She sobbed, stroking her brother's hair. He did not respond. But he seemed stable for the moment, despite the gapping wound from his lower chest to the base of his neck. His pulse was steady and his breathing even albeit shallow at any rate. Luckily Arrancar were difficult to kill. She licked her lips nervously and turned her head to scan the area around her.

She watched the pitched battle between Ichigo and Nnoitra…Ichi-kun was not doing so good. She saw where Tesla was holding Orihime captive. She saw in the distance, coming from the opposite direction…some indeterminate persons with fairly strong reiatsu…and they were not Arrancar. She could only assume that they were Shinigami.

_Crap, if it's not one thing it's another_...She thought darkly to herself, her jaw tightening. She glanced down at her brother, at Pantera in her sheathe. She stared at the Zanpakuto for a long moment. It was not a piece of her soul, so if she were to wield her, Pantera would only be a blade. But…she was Grimmjow's kin, and was beloved by him. So it may be that although Resurrección would be impossible, Pantera may deign to help her, especially while the girl was defending her barer.

Aoiko stood with Pantera in her hand and watched the Shinigami approach, shifting to the side as she did so to place herself between the potential danger and her prone bother, ignoring the warning twinge in her hips.

The man in the lead was huge. Not as big as Yammy, but more intimidating despite that. His sharp teeth were bared in a savage grin, and he wore an eye-patch over his right eye. He somewhat resembled Nnoitra at first glance, but was several inches shorter and far more muscular. He was twice the width of Nnoitra in fact, if not three. But not fat; she doubted if there was an ounce of fat on that man. He had a bestial aura and she judged him to be about 6'8" tall, and he probably weighed twice as much as Nnoitra did. His hair was long and black, but spiked in the strangest fashion and she could hear the faint chiming of bells. His uniform was open at the chest, revealing a very large scar as well as his very well muscled chest. His white haori was ragged; it had certainly seen better days.

There was a small girl she hadn't noticed at first on his shoulder, her hair a shock of pink, her eyes red. She was adorable. Then there were the two men flanking what was obviously (considering the haori) their captain. One was about 5'8", the second only half a head shorter.

The first was bald (although it suited him, she thought), with red marks at the outside corners of his dark eyes, similar to the teal-green markings beneath her brother's eyes and her own. He looked stern, but the lines around his mouth had her thinking he smiled often…or, grinned maniacally she corrected when she saw such an expression shift on his face. He was masculine, but not overly so. His body was toned and muscular.

The other man had beautiful black-purple chin length hair and dark purple eyes. He had some odd accessories however, two red feathers on his right eyebrow, and two yellow from the corner of that eye. And an orange wrap around his throat attached to an orange arm-warmer on his right forearm. He was more feminine then masculine, but not overly so. All in all she found all these men to be attractive (if not completely diverse) examples of their kind.

But now was most certainly not the time for such thoughts. She took in this all in an instant, the same amount of time it took for her to place herself between them and Grimmjow. She saw that they had been sizing her up even while she had been doing the same. They had not increased their speed, but kept coming at a constant lope. She did not relax the hold on her brother's sword an iota. She ignored the pain radiating from her extremities, and narrowed her eyes as she contemplated the danger they posed.

But then she heard Nel cry out, and her attention was diverted. She gaped; Ichi-kun was being beaten quite soundly by Nnoitra. And now Nnoitra was breaking his arm! For fun! She could see his expression of cruel amusement from here! Anger seethed within her breast. Before she could react, Neliel suddenly screamed in child-like fury and rage, was engluffed in a cloud of smoke and sand and…became an adult. She was beautiful. And she was fast!

She took this chance to turn (her attention focused on the four still approaching) and picked up her brother. She sonido'd to the nearby outcropping of rock and lay him at the base. She looked around desperately; saw Ichi-kun. Before she could react, Neliel had taken the injured Ichigo in her arms and brought her to where Aoiko crouched by her brother. She assured him not to worry about her, and paused to smile at Aoiko's shocked face. She then stood and a flare of wind lifted the tattered remains of what had once been a dress of sorts down to her little feet, now barely adequet covering for a frame every bit as voluptous as Orihime's. Covering her back was a tattoo of the number 3...she was the former 3rd Espada before Halibel! That shocked her even more, but also gave her confidence in facing Nnoitra, who was after all only the 5th Espada. Ichigo gasped in comprehension of the number upon Nel's back as she took off to give Nnoitra a well deserved thrasing.

Aoiko was worried about Orihime now. She turned to looked at the Shinigami. They were too close for her to risk leaving her brother and Ichigo unprotected. Tesla would not kill Orihime for the time being. She turned to check Ichigo's vitals, kneeling down beside him although she still held Pantera in her hand at her side. She was distracted by the damage Nnoitra had caused that by this time the Shinigami had shown up, she'd nearly forgotten them, and their sudden appearance startled her so badly she leapt to her feet, immediately collapsing when her hips buckled painfully and her legs refused to hold her. She fell straight to the ground, landing on her ass, as if her legs had gone boneless. She landed with a thump that sent up a cloud of sand around her, her legs sprawled on either side of body. A strangled gasp was the only sound of pain she allowed herself. She tried to stand up, but she could not even get a twitch out of her maltreated hips.

"Aoiko-san!" Ichigo gasped as he stared up at her, he'd just found the breath to speak after the shock of Neliel's true form had worn off. "Your hips…you're making the damage worse." He looked worried, she looked back at him, stopped trying to get up. "My dad's a doctor you know…" He added and she lifted an eyebrow before her attention was completely taken by the Shinigami now in front of her.

"What's this, woman?" It was the biggest man in the group, the one with the girl on his shoulder, he had a deep voice. She turned to look at him, her muscles tensing in preparation for action despite Ichigo's plea. Ichigo pushed himself partially up at the sound of his voice.

"Kenpachi! Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika!" He seemed surprised, he must not have seen them coming. But Aoiko would have thought he'd had sensed them…

The captain, Kenpachi, had been holding a very long and jagged sword over his shoulder (the one without the girl) and now he swung it down, bringing it down centimeters from her nose. She did not even flinch, she had seen his arm tense and had suspected he'd do something, she was only glad he'd not cut her head off. She stared straight into his eyes and didn't move an inch. He seemed somewhat impressed that she did not flinch, or maybe that was annoyance that caused his eye to narrow in contemplation. She was obviously not much of a threat at the moment.

"Kenpachi!" Ichigo gasped, he was starting to look angry and he pushed himself up into a sitting position although one arm hung limply. "Don't hurt her!" He demanded with narrowed eyes. Kenpachi turned his head to look at the orange haired boy with confusion, his sword never wavering.

"Why not? She's an Arrancar right?" He grunted.

"Yes. And my friend." Ichigo informed him firmly, his eyes fierce. "She's protected Orihime the entire time she's been here. And she has already been hurt enough for one day. Far too much." He continued with a snarl. "Besides which, she and her brother have defected to our side." He added with a small grin. She sighed. He did not need to go on like that…she was fine.

"Ichi-kun… I hardly need…" She trailed off as her hips gave a twinge of pain and sighed again. "When you finish…" She trailed off again. She looked across the expanse at the fight with Neliel and Nnoitra and she felt anger once again ignite underneath her skin, nearly burning her up. Neliel had released her resurrection. She saw red. "Damn…" She snarled, her head snapping around to assess Ichigo's condition and that of her brother. Not good, her eyes were drawn to Orihime. Orihime looked shocked. And she was too far away for her powers to do any good. DAMN Tesla.

She was completely ignoring the sword in her face, ignoring the fact that Ichigo was explaining to Kenpachi in gruesome detail the state she had been in when he'd first seen her. She'd smack him for that later. It annoyed her; it was not his business to be sharing. She did not want it known how weak she was. He was explaining this to the man to convince him that her and Grimmjow's defection was sincere, she knew that, it still pissed her off.

"Shut up Ichigo." She snarled offhandedly, not looking at the man, still staring at Nnoitra and Neliel. She breathed heavily, her blood heating with battle-lust. She saw that Ichigo had noticed Neliel's predicament then, he suddenly looked panicked. She ignored the Shinigami still pointing his blade at her. She'd filed him in her mind as 'dangerous, but not a threat currently'. He'd not killed her yet.

"Calm down Ichigo. I'll protect her." She informed the orangette, he looked at her with disbelief, even while trying to struggle to his own feet. She heard Kenpachi scoff above her, and she turned her head to fix him with a glower burning with blood-lust. "I will fight him even if my hips refuse to hold me." She growled.

"He'll kill you." Ichigo told her bluntly. He was such an ass. He sounded like Grimmy on a bad day.

"That is a price a warrior must be prepared to pay." She answered, calm now and her eyes went back to where Nnoitra and Neliel were still fighting. "Neliel does not have much longer, and then Nnoitra will be here." She said his name with such loathing that the blade in front of her face actually shifted away from her slightly though she did not glance up to see the Shingamis' expressions. She was calming her breathing now, readying herself to leap to her feet. She knew Neliel would fall back in a moment…

She saw Nel fall in a puff of smoke…she'd become a child again!

"Neliel!" She gasped; her eyes so wide the whites were visible all around her electric blue pupils. She dropped Pantera to the sand beside her left leg without a thought and leapt to her feet depsite the sickening crack she felt more then heard in her left hip, she began to run as quickly as she could toward Neliel's fallen form, then sonindo'ing, diving over her to protect her from Nnoitra's vicious attacks, taking the force of his stomp into her own ribs. She curled protectively over the child, ignoring the pain even while Nel wailed in pain and fright.

She vaguely heard the sneering arrogance of Nnoitra taunting and insulting her and Neliel. And then the pain stopped, she looked up, Ichigo was there! She looked up in shock. He had blocked Nnoitra's stomp with his Zanpaktou, when had he gotten there? She stared in shock for a nanosecond and then sprang to her feet (ignoring the newly broken ribs on her right side), Nel cradled against her breasts and she sonido'd back to the Shinigami whom seemed to be Ichigo's friends. Nel was clinging to her and crying.

"I so sowwy!" The child wailed. "It's all Nel's fault!" Aoiko knelt down beside her still unconscious brother, kissed her forehead.

"It's alright, love. I'm fine." She soothed, giving the girl a smile. Nel looked up at her with her huge pale hazel eyes. "I am fine." She repeated. The girl was so relieved she threw her chubby little arms around her neck and almost choked her in her exuberance. Aoiko gently pulled the girl off and sat her beside Grimmjow.

"Wait there." She told the girl. She stood up carefully; saw the Shinigami staring at her. She stared back for a heartbeat and then turned her back to them as she picked up her brother's Zanpaktou. She stared out across the battlefield. She focused on Telsa and Orihime. She tapped her toe against the ground several times and counted to five in her head. She tilted her head to the side and shifted her weight, frowned. She stuck Pantera through the bands of her hakama and brought her hands up to shoulder level. She started to gather as much reiatsu as she could, as quickly as she could, until she had gathered so much that the glow was visible to everyone. She heard sounds of surprise, ignored them. Poured more reiatsu until the skin on her hands began to burn with the intensity.

Then she slammed her hands down onto her hips and poured all the reiatsu into her hip joints, forcing them to heal. Her lips curled back in a snarl of pain, but she made no sound. Once the power had transferred she pulled Pantera out of the makeshift sheathe, glanced at her and felt the acceptance beneath her fingers.

She turned her attention to Tesla, he was watching Nnoitra very intently, ignoring everything else around him. Perfect. With the sound of an enraged cougar ripping from her throat, she took off towards him.

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><p>AN I hope you all like this chapter. :3 Please Read and Review! 3


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